Martin Collins, relating a message from a member in Cape Town, South Africa, that the entire city could run out of water by April, alerts us that other cities, such as San Paulo, Lima, Mexico City, Melbourne, and Kabul could soon experience the same curse. As a result of sustained drought in these diverse areas, potable water is disappearing. Concomitantly, peoples' self-centered, carnal attitudes have begun to surface as stress mounts from the stringent enforcement of rigorous rationing regulations. Drought has perennially been evidence of God's displeasure toward people who have blatantly forsaken Him for false gods. If we have God's Holy Spirit flowing in us, we can take heart that the curse of drought will end as God accomplishes His purpose and people forsake their sins.

Richard Ritenbaugh reminds us that some prophecy buffs have concluded that the end of the world is on the horizon, citing the media's sniping at President Trump, North Korea's hydrogen bomb threats, and the succession of three destructive hurricanes. When analyzing the overblown coverage of the hurricanes, for example, one must factor in the motives of the Weather Channel , including the insidious political motive of fostering a belief in climate change, and the materialistic motive of boosting ratings by playing on people's fears. God's called-out ones should not look to the media when seeking truthful information. What God reveals in His Word is more reliable than the evening news. God's people do a disservice to the cause of truth when they allow the media-hype to trigger a false hope about Christ's imminent return. We have no absolute guarantee that Christ will come in our lifetime; studying numerology or secret biblical codes will not speed up the event. No one, not even Jesus Christ Himself, knows when He will return; the Father alone has this knowledge. Many of the signs of Jesus coming are perennial, such as deception, wars and rumors of wars, famines and natural disasters. To be sure, Christ averred that the both the density and the intensity of world events would increase before the end, but one cannot build a prophetic marker on a series of natural events, many of which have been over-hyped by irresponsible media outlets. When we are commanded to watch and pray, Christ expects the faithful servant to be watching the progress of his spiritual growth, regardless of whether His return is imminent or far off. The recent disasters should be a wake-up call not as a pin on a chart measuring prophetic fulfillment.

Every Christian longs for the return of Jesus Christ, and we search for fulfillments of the signs signaling that wonderful prophetic event. The seemingly rapid increase in natural disasters and heavenly spectacles can excite us to a fever pitch. Richard Ritenbaugh cautions that we need make sure that our understanding and interpretation of such signs align with what the Bible says about them.

Martin Collins, continuing the exposition of the Book of Joel, reiterates that the locust plague serves as a vivid precursor to the impending Day of the Lord. Joel assures the victims of the devastating plague that, if they would repent of their sins, returning to the covenant, the land would become refreshed, prosperity would return, the political threat would be averted, and the years lost to the devastation would be restored. What God promised to physical Israel He promises to the Israel of God—the Church. On Pentecost, 31 AD, God typically fulfilled Joel's prophecy of His Spirit being poured out on all flesh; in the Millennium, He will finally fulfil it. Throughout the Old Testament, God's Spirit was poured out on selected servants who had specific commissions to lead and warn God's people. In the future, a healing of the land, national security, and the restoration of lost years will accrue to the remnants of Israel and ultimately to all mankind. As members of God's royal priesthood, we need to humbly look out for the wellbeing of others, not like Diotrephes, who desired to have pre-eminence, but rather like Jesus Christ, who willingly sacrificed Himself for others. When God's Holy Spirit dwells in us, the most convincing manifestation is our repentance and yielding to God's direction, as manifested in the servant who always carried out his master's will faithfully.

Martin Collins, reflecting on the devastating locust plagues described in Joel, marvels that the prophet, instead of promising a silver lining on a very black cloud, affirmed that things were going to get intensely worse before they got better. Nevertheless, Joel, whose name means Yahve is God, in the middle of his prophecy, promised a marvelous blessing which would satisfy His people. This prophesied blessing, which became Peter's first words of his Pentecost sermon on Pentecost in 31 AD, was that God would pour out His Spirit, prompting young men to prophesy and old men to dream before the awesome Day of the Lord. Only a type of Joel's prophecy was fulfilled in 31AD and much more is yet to be fulfilled. Joel described a gruesome locust infestation that totally ruined the economy of the nation, placing the citizenry in a state of hopeless, panicked despair. Because Judah had taken God's blessings for granted, He removed His hand of protection, something we see happening in our morally bankrupt culture today. God, in His sovereignty, is guiding His creation to its ultimate purpose, including the devastating plagues and afflictions, designed to motivate repentance and obedience. God represents both mercy and justice. When sin becomes a dominant condition of God's people, God's judgment is not far away, either in the form of political oppression or natural disaster. For a repentant people, there will be restored fellowship and tranquility. The 1915 AD locust plague in Palestine had all the biblical proportions, including the sky darkened with adult locusts, eating everything in their paths. The locust plague Joel described is only a foretaste, symbolic of a more devastating judgment to befall the earth in the future Day of the Lord. Both disaster and grace are tools God uses to motivate repentance, and the wise will act accordingly, turning to God in sincere, contrite, humble, heartfelt repentance, rending their hearts rather than their garments, leading to total conversion and change of mind.

Richard Ritenbaugh, using the metaphor of "balancing" a checkbook, wherein two totally distinct documents, the user's register and the bank's statement are squared, or brought into agreement, explains Christ's work of "squaring" us—that is justifying us - before God. Through one man (Adam), mankind was condemned, but through Christ (the second Adam) we are justified and reconciled. After reconciliation, there can finally be a meeting of minds as we are fashioned into a new creation, invited to sit in heavenly places. As a work in progress, created for good works, we will ultimately be just like Him. The penalty of our sins, not God's Law, was nailed to the cross. If we faithfully use the gift of His Holy Spirit, overcoming our sins and developing godly character, we will be part of the first-born, qualified to receive our inheritance of eternal life in the family of God. Christ's work at Calvary reconciled us to God, setting in motion a process which will eventually bring the entire creation ( the "animal, mineral, and vegetable" into reconciliation with God the Father. Currently, the entire creation groans in agony awaiting the liberation from corruption. The Feast of Trumpets anticipates the return of Jesus Christ to this earth, having resurrected the dead saints and receiving the living saints at His coming, a day which harkens back to the time when the Law was originally given to the Israelites, a time when Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, when trumpets resounded, and the people were terrified, shocked to learn how powerful their God really was. The events preceding Christ's return Christ will be exceedingly terrifying to those who oppose Him, but welcome to the displaced remnant who will finally be allowed to return to their homeland. God will then pour out His spirit upon them, rendering their hearts pliable, submissive, and deeply repentant for their transgressions.

David Grabbe, observing that Christ threatened consequences to the Thyatira Church if the congregation did not repent, asserts that God usually grants abundant time for people to repent, but that the recipients of this grace often interpret it as God's tolerance for their sin. The effect is that God's patience can harden people, as they neglect the solemn warning brought by His Word (recorded in the Scriptures) and His messengers, the prophets. For a time, especially as we live in ignorance, God displays patience and forbearance, but God requires repentance, as He did with the people of Nineveh. It is human nature to put off repentance if one does not perceive immediate consequences. Today, people have been so enervated by the effects of sin that they continually disregard God's warning message, oblivious to the cause-and-effect relationship between natural disasters and national sin. Some have failed to understand that Christ scattered the church for its own protection as the Laodicean infection began to destroy vital organs. God's goodness is designed to bring us to repentance, but sometimes He needs to be kind to us by allowing us to experience the consequences of our sins. God's ways to lead us to repentance may occasionally seem offensive, even excessively harsh, but He is always faithful to His covenant and wants only the best for us.

John Ritenbaugh, reiterating that some successful wars have been fought without weaponry, affirms that the most successful battles have been won by words, with the adversary (the prince of the power of the air) convincingly and deceptively persuading the enemy to surrender without a struggle. Satan has been so overwhelmingly successful that we are living in the midst of a culture in which the vast majority of minds are unable to critically appraise ideas or to cull out lies. Bereft of truth these minds are stunted by a steady ingesting of lies and half-truths. Our society resembles confused zombie-like victims of people devastated by a tornado or earthquake, people devastated in attitude and conduct. Sadly, God created mankind upright, but the carnal mind has a penchant for evil schemes. Too many of our juvenile delinquents, having twisted their character through lack of discipline and through self-indulgence, reap the consequences of a way which may seem right to their malformed consciences, but which leads unfailingly to death. Children have only one responsibility: to obey their parents perfectly. As children of God, we have also one responsibility: to obey our Heavenly Father. Our Elder Brother has already provided the example of how this is to be accomplished.

John Ritenbaugh, comparing human behavior in the wake of natural disasters, such as tornadoes and hurricanes, to unnatural disasters, such as bombs and military attacks, suggests that in the latter devastations people become dispirited, listless, as though they had lost their reason for living. Sadly, what has happened to our socio-cultural milieu in the past 70 years has been a systematic undermining of morality, and a bizarre redefinition by leftist, progressive social engineers as to what constitutes normal and as to what constitutes abnormal. In this nation five unelected judges, three of them bitter feminist women, have, at least in their woefully deficient, reprobate minds, nullified or abrogated God's Edenic Covenant with mankind, which established marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. Earlier these reprobate justices rejected God's prohibition on murder, allowing abortion of millions of unborn children These amoral, secular, 'progressive' humanists have made themselves total arbiters of morality, pushing a hopelessly twisted form of pragmatism, thinking they have no accountability beyond this current life. We cannot expect the current compromised, corrupted aggregate of pandering elected politicians to be in sync with God. What the secular, 'progressive' humanists have not factored into their equation is that God is still alive, and that there are consequences for what they and we have done. God Almighty, not the United States Supreme Court, will have the final say in this matter.

Martin Collins, acknowledging that people universally are curious about the future, asserts that prophecy is difficult and perplexing. Regardless of when Christ will return, we must be ready. False teachers, apostasy, and wars, as well as rumors of wars, will be a permanent part of the birth pangs ushering in Christ's Second Coming and the end of the world. Our challenge in the wake of the terrible things we witness now (an arena of passion and fury) must be to retain confidence that God is in control, even though our faith will be tried to its ultimate. The zeal we had at our calling cannot hold up to the current rigors. We need to learn to fear God more than those who persecute us. When we are ill-treated, we are persecuted for His sake—a high honor. God will give us special ability to witness for Him in the midst of gruesome trials and persecution. God's promises have conditions, namely, that we come to the stature of Christ. We are commanded not to be deceived, not to be afraid, and not to worry. Because Jesus will come unexpectedly and suddenly, we need to always live as though Christ will be returning tomorrow. God encourages us to stay settled in times of conflict, to stand firm in the faith, and to preach the Gospel to the world until Christ returns, an event which will be as the blink of the eye regardless of when we die. Consequently, we need to maintain a solid relationship with God, watching and praying continually, protecting our spiritual valuables. Until Christ returns, we must serve our brethren, using the spiritual gifts God has given us, in direct contrast to the evil servant, who is careless, cruel, and engages in carousing, believing he has plenty of time since Christ has supposedly delayed His coming. Faithless Christians will be judged more harshly than those who do not know Christ. To whom much has been committed, much will be expected.

The devastating earthquake and resulting tsunami that hit Japan on March 11 have not garnered as much concern as the subsequent crisis involving the nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. David Grabbe ponders, not just the effects of this catastrophe on Japan's economy, but also how Tokyo will react on the world stage as a result.

John Ritenbaugh, while concurring that New Orleans is unquestionably one of the most dysfunctional venues in North America, with the murder rate 10% above the national average, the home of numerous perverted sex, immorality and perverted lifestyles, we must exercise caution at jumping to conclusions, making the inference that the suffering of people involved in the wake of the storm was a judgment from God. For one thing, the French Quarter (and Bourbon Street) was relatively unscathed. Even though generally speaking, disobedience automatically brings punishment while obedience brings blessing, the entirety of physical Israel has enough guilt from sin to pass around. We need to be sobered by these disasters, realizing our culpability for this wrath of God (Dies Ire). The devastations (Katrina and Rita) are displays of His wrath. If God really wanted to get rid of New Orleans, it would have looked like Sodom and Gomorrah. God actually exercised incredible restraint and mercy considering the magnitude of our national sins. These natural disasters should lead us all to reflect and repent.

A vital understanding we can reach from the many articles that appeared in the media following the recent devastating tsunami in Southeast Asia is the appalling ignorance of God's involvement in the minds of the inhabitants of Western-world cultures. ...

Sometime in the not-too-distant future, the sixth seal foretells of the sun turning black and the moon turning red, stars falling, the sky rolling back, and a terrible earthquake moving mountains and islands. Richard Ritenbaugh examines this final judgment that announces the imminent Day of the Lord.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh: Secular Americans snicker at insurance policies that refer to hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and other natural disasters as "acts of God," when they, in their scientific arrogance, prefer to call them "acts of nature" or "weather events." ...

Focusing upon II Corinthians 13:5, John Ritenbaugh cautions us of the futility of assenting to a code of standards we do not intend to apply. Belief without conduct equals a dead faith leading to death. Works give evidence that we really do believe and have the Holy Spirit in us. What we believe (correctly or incorrectly) will inevitably produce works. According to a survey conducted by Barna, a large segment of professing Christians have rejected major tenets of the Bible (in effect, calling Jesus Christ a liar) fashioning their own subjective, private religions, giving themselves license to sin in selected areas and fostering a tolerance for hideous societal perversions. Rejecting a biblical world-view, unfaithful modern Israel has degenerated into a habitation of demons. As God's called out ones, we are admonished not to conform or follow suit, but to yield to God's purification.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh: Two years ago yesterday, tens of millions of Americans were glued to their televisions, watching the terror and its aftermath in New York City, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania. ...

Some in the church believe that Christians should not pray for those in the world because of a few verses in Jeremiah. However, the bulk of the Bible shows just the opposite! Only when God has determined He will not relent will prayers for them be ineffective.

Just about half of the continental United States suffers under severe drought conditions. And lack of water is not the only thing we need to worry about. Richard Ritenbaugh warns that such "acts of God" should make us take note.

The September 11 bombings were certainly tragic and terrible. Some have since asked, "Was God involved? Is He to blame?" John Ritenbaugh soberly answers some of these tough questions, concluding that God certainly allowed them to occur for our ultimate and eternal benefit.

John Ritenbaugh, defining providence as the protective care of God, suggests that the providence of God also touches on the pains and sufferings of persecution. To the elect whom God foreknew, all things- pleasant or unpleasant- happen for ultimate good (Romans 8:28). Tragic things, calamities, trials, anxiety, evil, and curses happen to Christians too, as well as blessings, in order to become fashioned and molded into the glory of God's image. As Christ learned from the things He suffered (Hebrews 5:8), we must also develop patience, refrain from murmuring, and realize that "time and chance" no longer apply to those whom God has called. Whatever it takes to bring God's purpose to pass, we need to develop the humility, obedience, and faith to accept.

Modern Israel is heavily dependent on its ability to produce food, but recent reports reveal just how unstable agriculture is. Bible prophecy predicts that famine will be part of the end-time scenario.

The book of Amos is an astounding prophecy, closely paralleling the conditions in modern Israel today. This first part deals with introductory materials, Israel's covenant responsibilities, God's judgment and how unrighteousness affects society.

What does God see in Israel that so affronts Him that He has to swear "by His holiness"? Israel had every opportunity that the Gentiles did not have: His calling, His promises, His Word, His laws. He gave the Israelites these gifts to help them develop into His sons and daughters, but God sees them as diametrically opposite of Himself. Should not God expect to see some of His characteristics in His sons?

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that the false religions embraced by the descendants of Jacob are not preparing God's people for the harsh punishment God will surely bring to modern Israel. Amos indicts rampant dishonest practices in modern Israel, placing dishonest gain above honesty, morality, or ethics, and arrogantly and covetously exploiting the needy for profit. Competition-eat or be eaten- becomes the dominant business ethic in modern Israel. Amos suggests that a major contributory cause of natural disasters (earthquakes, drought, famines, and floods) is the epidemic of immorality omnipresent in the land of Jacob (totally neutralizing the otherwise positive effects of prosperity and technology)Prophecy should serve as a prod or motivation to prepare appropriately for the future, zealously guarding the truth against a counterfeit (politically active or influential) syncretistic pagan religion [patterned after the manner of Jeroboam I], safeguarding against an impending famine of the word. God will demolish this satanic religious-political system, re-gathering a repentant bruised and battered remnant of His people.

John Ritenbaugh observes that the people to whom Amos addresses have the mistaken assumption that because they have made the covenant with God that they complacently bask in a kind of divine favoritism—God's country, God's people, God's church. God's holy and spiritual law, describing and defining His standard of holiness, His character, nature, or essence, serves as the template into which our character needs to be formed or molded. The combination of the redeeming and the law-giving aspects of God's nature determines the plumb line against which all of us are judged. Jacob's descendents, embracing false religion (after the idolatrous, syncretistic manner of Jeroboam I) have severely placed a strain upon God's patience. As members of the Israel of God, we must assiduously measure up to God's plumb line, insisting upon positive moral purity in all our thoughts and behaviors, avoiding sin by doing good—a course that will put us totally out of sync with the rest of society—a society ripe in sin and immorality, begging for harsh correction.

John Ritenbaugh warns that the pride of Jacob (or his offspring) coupled with the incredible ability to make tremendous technological advances, blinds Israel to its devastating moral deficit. Amos begins with a description or cataloging of the sins of Israel's enemies, followed by a harsh indictment of its own sins and a roar of wrath (or justice), followed by the encirclement by its enemies and its ultimate fall. Thankfully, after punishing His people, God will redeem them and faithfully fulfill His covenant with them. God, in His sovereignty, will do what He must to bring Abraham's seed to repentance and salvation, including allowing crisis, hardship, humiliation, and calamity. As the Israel of God, we dare not complacently take our special covenant-relationship for granted, realizing that His plumbline (a combination of grace and law) will measure us, testing our spirituality while showing absolutely no favoritism or partiality. We need to see ourselves from God's perspective.

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The Bereans "received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10-11). This daily newsletter provides a starting point for personal study, and gives valuable insight into the verses that make up the Word of God. See what over 145,000 subscribers are already receiving each day.

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